People

DICK CLARK RINGS IN NEW YEAR ... AGAIN

The broadcaster often described as "America's Oldest Teenager" proved he can still produce, direct and star in a live event Monday night when he hosted New Year's Eve celebrations on ABC. The 72-year-old creator of "American Bandstand," Dick Clark, played master of ceremonies and interviewer for the broadcast -- repeated in other time zones as 2002 arrived in this country. Across the country, according to MSNBC, most people engaged in their usual New Year's Eve pattern. Most had security on their minds, but were determined to make sure it was "business as usual." On session of bingo at a Vancouver, Wash., American Legion hall was interrupted at 9 p.m. west coast time in solidarity with those celebrating the new year in Manhattan. Back to Dick Clark for a moment. He's involved in a lawsuit against the producer of the Grammy Awards. He is suing Michael Greene, president of the Recording Academy, for what he sees as interference into his own American Music Awards. Clark claims that Greene has told many performers that they would not be able to get a live shot on the Grammys if they sang or played on Clark's awards show. Meanwhile, at least one music critic is calling on Clark to "hang it up." Knight-Ridder reports that Dick Clark is already the third-wealthiest person in the music world and has outlived his usefulness and should retire.

GUY LOMBARDO REMEMBERED

Many years ago, on the TV show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," bandleader Guy Lombardo joked: "When I die I'm taking New Year's Eve with me!" Well, Lombardo is long gone but the celebration of the change in the calendar is alive and well. The Lombardo and his Royal Canadians' recording still sells like hotcakes in late December each year, even though Lombardo has been gone since 1977. Over the years the bandleader and his aggregation became so associated with New Year's Eve that the song was never left out of a performance, no matter what time of year it was. Lombardo once told a reporter that when his band was playing on live radio at five in the afternoon no one ever heard them. He said that when they got their first shot at a national hookup on New Year's Eve they "became as popular as the Beatles." Had he lived, Guy Lombardo would be 100 this year.

CRONKITE BACK ON THE TUBE

Many people who openly said they wished that Walter Cronkite would have been around to soothe their souls on Sept. 11 will find some solace Tuesday night. PBS is presenting a performance of classical music from Vienna with Cronkite hosting. The network says that the long-time anchorman of the "CBS Nightly News" will present a program of "light and airy" classical music called "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2002." During the 90-minute gala, the Vienna Philharmonic will be under the baton of Seiji Ozawa, long associated with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It's amazing that it's been more than 20 years since Cronkite stepped from behind the anchor desk and walked into near-retirement. Many of us welcome him back.

NEW YORK SAYS GOODBYE TO 'MR. MAYOR'

For a while Rudolph Giuliani thought it might be proper for him to stay on longer to deal with the continuing problems created in New York on Sept. 11. But, the rules could not be changed and so His Honor has had to make a series of misty-eyed farewells to the city he directed for eight years. He visited several different venues, churches, meetings and other gathering places in saying "Goodbye." The man whom Time magazine named "Person of the Year" for 2001 was on hand again to oversee the dropping of the ball in Times Square -- an event he insisted should go on in spite of security concerns. Now there is talk that Giuliani may move to New Jersey and run for the U.S. Senate. So, what about the possible charges that he'd be a "carpetbagger?" He need only point to Sen. Hillary Clinton when that question arises.

MAN OFFERS TO SELL HIMSELF AS MUMMY

A 24-year-old Oregon carpenter has tried to sell the rights to his mummified body on the Internet. But he was quickly told by eBay that it the sale was not the kind of thing the cyber-auctioneer wanted to deal with. James Olheiser tells the Salem Statesman Journal newspaper that he wanted to get the money to help pay for his unborn child's future education. Olheiser was asking a quarter of a million dollars for the rights to mummify him, after his death, and display the mummy for educational purposes. He was successful in getting the item onto eBay for a while, but the auction site yanked it after 15 hours. Mrs. Olheiser was in favor of the move, telling the publication that it would have meant that the family could have "put little Penny Lane through college and never have to worry about that kind of thing again."

JACKSON TO MEET WITH HARVARD BIGWIGS

The Rev. Jesse Jackson confirms that he will travel to Massachusetts to meet with the directors of Harvard University to talk about the school's policies as they regard ethnic diversity. The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Jackson is concerned because several professors at the school feel that the venerable university needs an official policy regarding affirmative action. The school has a new president, Lawrence Summers. He says he's looking forward to meeting with the civil rights activist in the coming days. A spokesman for Harvard tells the newspaper that Summers feels there is a wide range of issues that can be addressed in a face-to-face meeting with Jackson.

UPI DAILY SURVEY QUESTION NO. 237

On this Eighth Day of Christmas we are wondering what you did on New Year's Eve to celebrate the arrival of 2002. Put CALENDAR in the subject line and send to [email protected] via the Internet.

RESULTS OF QUESTION NO. 232 (SUGAR-FREE)

Last week we asked if you had any good sugar-free recipes for holiday treats. Many wrote to say that all I had to do was look on the boxes of any "fake" sugars sold in groceries. I was also instructed that if you go to any search engine on the Internet and type in "sugar-free recipes" a wealth of information pops up. Thanks for all the hints. A few recipes did drift in and I anticipate trying them in the future and reporting back. By the way, the main problem in using artificial sweeteners is that they don't have the mass or bulk of real sugar and, unless you add a lot of filler, such as unsweetened applesauce, the consistency just isn't the same. GBA.